Ajay Ramaswamy creates a flutter

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, OCT. 17. Ajay Ramaswamy, pro-active as ever, overshadowed Manoj Mahadevan, alternating between delight and despair, in a major upset in the men's singles of the International Tennis Federation's men's Futures championship on Wednesday.

The 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory over the fourth seed enabled the wildcard entrant from Mumbai to storm into the quarterfinals where he will take on former national champion Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, unseeded in the first leg, but an exciting talent nevertheless.

Mahadevan's defeat left only four of the eight seeds in the fray, unseeded but experienced Rohan Bopanna sending out fifth seed Harel Srugo 6-4, 6-4 in the other upset of the day. Ramaswamy is the only wildcard remaining at this stage, the other unexpected faces in the quarterfinal line-up being qualifier Saurav Panja and lucky loser Tomas Janda.

Among the reputed players, seventh seed Prahlad Srinath, encountering control problems due to a change of racquet and sluggish form, sweated it out against American qualifier Billy Wilkinson before clinching his quarterfinal place.

Even while wildcard Ramaswamy and unseeded Bopanna were enjoying their moments in the sun, Israel's Deri Meir, ranked 1284th in the ITF list, engaged Sunil Kumar in a thriller stretching to two hours, 24 minutes, surely the most engrossing match of day, before the latter won 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Getting past this tireless, edgy Israeli can only have helped the Indian understand the value of playing the percentages instead of dabbling in flamboyant strokeplay.

Ramaswamy got down to the business of compiling points from the outset, attacking Mahadevan's serve in quest of an opening or a weak return. Such a focussed, ferocious approach paid off for the Mumbai-based wildcard, winning the first set without much trouble.

The fourth seed overcame the initial hiccups and looked assertive in the second set everytime his huge forehand came into play, hitting deep, powerful strokes. He went 3-0 up at one stage, gaining a break in the second, and though subsequent games went with serves, remained ahead to win 6-3.

The decider could have swung either way till Mahadevan cracked, his body language conveying the turmoil going on in his mind. Games again went with serves but a charged up Ramaswamy could not be denied his due.

Bopanna, a tricky opponent on his day, did not allow the fifth seed Israeli to settle down. Srugo was broken thrice in the first set, spent the rest of the match trying in vain to catch up with his lanky opponent, adept at using his reach to dominate the net.

The fifth seed staged a brief fightback in the second set, breaking back after dropping serve in the fifth game but could not turn the tide and went out angry and frustrated, hurling his racquet to the ground on numerous occasions as his game came apart.

The quarterfinal line-up: Eyal Erlich vs Tomas Janda, Jurek Stasiak vs Prahlad Srinath, Sunil Kumar Sipaeya vs Ajay Ramaswamy, Rohan Bopanna vs Saurav Panja.

The results:

Singles second round (Indians unless specified): 1-Eyal Erlich (Isr) bt Raviv Volkovitzky (Isr) 7-5, 6-1; Tomas Janda (Cze) bt Shivang Mishra 6-3, 6-3; 3-Jurel Stasiak (Austria) bt Kedar Tembe 6-2, 6-2; 7-Prahlad Srinath bt Billy Wilkinson (USA) 6-4, 3-6, 6- 3; Sunil Kumar Sipaeya bt Deri Meir (Isr) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5; Ajay Ramaswamy bt Manoj Mahadevan 6-2, 3-6, 7-5; Rohan Bopanna bt 5- Harel Srugo (Isr) 6-4, 6-4; Saurav Panja bt Vijayendra Laad 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles quarterfinals: R. Bopanna/Vijay Kannan bt Kamala Kannan/Arunprakash Rajagopalan 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; M. Deri/Eliran Dooyev (Isr) bt Shivang Mishra/Sichel Roy 7-5, 3- 6, 6-1; P. Srinath/A. Ramaswamy bt S. Panja/Kedar Shah 6-1, 6-4; Nitin Kirtane/Sandeep Kirtane bt Tomas Hladil/T. Janda (Cze) 6-0, 6-1.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : India roars into semifinals
Next     : Post fatherhood, will Agassi buck the trend?